Bruce Arena pleased to see former player Mike Petke become New York Red Bulls head coach

Bruce Arena pleased to see former player Mike Petke become New York Red Bulls head coach

UPPER MONTCLAIR, N.J. –LA Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena has seen many of his former assistants or players take full-time head coaching gigs and the latest is New York Red Bulls boss Mike Petke.

It was Arena, who gave Petke his first of two national team appearances in 2001 while the Galaxy boss was the coach of the U.S. National Team. Arena also faced off against Petke multiple times during his coaching tenure in MLS and will take on his former player when the Galaxy meet the Red Bulls meet on Sunday.

True to his role as the standard-barer for American coaches, Arena admitted that he was pleased Petke became the head coach at Red Bull Arena.

“It’s great to see some of our former players in the league in coaching positions,” Arena told reporters following LA’s training at Montclair State University on Friday. "Mike is basically a hometown boy, so it’s great to see that the Red Bulls have one of their own coaching the team.”